John C. Liu, MD, is co-director of the USC Spine Center, part of Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles. He is also a professor of neurosurgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He has previously served as vice chairman of spine services in the neurosurgery department and co-medical director of the spine center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and Northwestern University in Chicago. He is a member of Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Neurological Surgeons and North American Spine Society.
Dr. Liu has a professional interest in complex spine disorders, minimally invasive spine surgery, degenerative disc herniation, spinal stenosis, spinal tumors, failed back surgery and spinal deformity. He is involved in volunteer work and has served on a medical mission to the Second Shanghai Medical College in China to provide surgical services for children with spinal deformity. He has served as a principle investigator in a number of clinical trials, including trials sponsored by Medtronic. Dr. Liu has had his work published in a number of professional journals, including Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine and Neurosurgical Focus.
"I entered the spine field because it's dynamic and always changing," says Dr. Liu. "For example, some of the most exciting innovations in spine surgery are the continued development of minimally invasive techniques with intraoperative navigation. As our techniques improve and more accurate technologies are developed, it allows spine surgeons to tackle more complex problems in safer environments for patients."
Dr. Liu earned his medical degree at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine and completed his neurological surgery residency at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, where he also completed a fellowship in complex spine surgery and minimally invasive surgery. He was recently honorably discharged from the United States Army Reserve with a rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
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